If you’ve not seen that great Jon Hamm commercial from last week, take a look.
With that as context, here’s a follow up ad, called “Everyone but Jon Hamm — Billboard”.
The official Academy Award nominations came out this morning, and CODA got three nods:
– Best Picture
– Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
(Troy Kotsur, who played the dad)
– Best Adapted Screenplay
And The Tragedy of Macbeth added three more nominations:
– Best Lead Actor (Denzel Washington)
– Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel)
– Best Production Design (production design: Stefan Dechant; set decoration: Nancy Haigh)
This is a big day for CODA, for The Tragedy of Macbeth, for Apple, and the Apple TV+ team.
Remember, Apple TV+ launched just a bit more than 2 years ago. This is an important milestone.
Here’s the complete list of nominations.
Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge:
Apple’s upcoming iOS 15.4 software update appears to have quietly added a massive quality of life change for its Shortcuts app: the ability to disable the incredibly annoying notifications for personal automations that users have set up on their devices, as spotted by Fjorden developer Florian Bürger on Twitter.
Here’s the tweet:
https://twitter.com/FlorianBuerger/status/1490623051549061122
This is a huge step forward. The Notification is annoying, but it’s the delay that it causes in the sequence that is the real issue. Great to have this eliminated.
Note that this is a feature in the iOS 15.4 beta. No guarantee that this will make it into the actual release version, but why would they remove it?
Things are looking great for Severance, a new Apple TV+ thriller series that launches February 18th (week from Friday).
From Apple:
From Ben Stiller and creator Dan Erickson, Severance centers around Mark Scout (Adam Scott), a leader of a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives.
This experiment in ‘work-life balance’ is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work… and of himself.
Incredible cast including Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation), Oscar winners Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken, Emmy-winner John Turturro, lots more.
From the AV Club review:
“Outtie” is Lumon’s sickly cute terminology for an employee when they’re outside the office. The “Innie” clearly receives the short end of the stick: What would motivate your work self without the memory of your family or outside life in general? You don’t know if you’re putting kids through college or saving up for a tropical vacation. You never experience nights and weekends or even sleep. Lumon’s severed employees aren’t pursuing their passions, either, as the work is so tedious it almost feels deliberate. Why would anyone endure this for the sake of their “Outtie,” who’s technically another person entirely? Well, it’s not so easy to leave. “Innies” can submit resignation requests but their “Outtie” must approve them, and Helly’s “Outtie” is quite content with the current situation. There’s a chilling moment when Helly’s “Outtie” tells her through a pre-recorded message that she’s not a “person.” Only Helly’s “Outtie” is real.
And:
Lower is a delight to watch as Helly, who moves through every scene like a caged animal.
And:
Severance’s entire cast is a symphony without a single off-note.
And consider the title of the SlashFilm review:
This Mind-Blowing, Unpredictable Series From Apple TV+ Is A Must-Watch
Between those takes and the trailer (embedded below), you should have a pretty good sense of whether this show is for you.
Me? Added to Up Next, on my calendar.
This week, Dave and I talk about the advances Apple has made with Face ID, especially around the pandemic and wearing a mask. We also talk about Wordle and how it has become so popular and then being sold to The New York Times. The World Trade Center is replacing office keys with Apple Wallet and Dave gives us a few shows and movies that he’s watching.
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